It is a very sensitive film: Bhumi Pednekar on 'Badhaai Do'

Bollywood actress Bhumi Pednekar has made headlines right after the trailer of her film ‘Badhaai Do’. She recently talked about how her upcoming comedy drama is about "love and acceptance" through a sensitive lens, without using its humour against the LGBTQI community to get cheap laughs. 

The film features Pednekar as a lesbian physical education teacher Sumi, who gets into a marriage of convenience with actor Rajkummar Rao's Shardul Thakur, who is playing gay policeman in the film.

The film is said to be the spiritual sequel to the National Award-winning 2018 hit 'Badhaai Ho!'.

The Pati Patni Aur Woh actress said she agreed to do the film half way through its narration as she saw the potential of the project to speak volume to a large audience. Bhumi said,

"What really jumped out for me was that, it is a big franchise which stands for speaking about things that usually make people uncomfortable, but something that we need to accept and normalise.There is a lot of humour in the film, even in the narration I could not stop laughing. But the humour is not degrading, not there to titillate. It is not at the expense of the community".

The Toilet Ek Prem Katha actress further said the team of the film-- director Harshvardhan Kulkarni, writers Suman Adhikary and Akshat Ghildia-- were aware of telling an important story with maturity.

Pednekar continued,

"There was a lot of sensitivity about the LGBTQI community, which is something I really respected. That came from the writing and the direction. There was not a lot for me to be alert about, which tells you about the maturity and the thinking that has gone behind the writing. When I heard the narration, it was done so well, there was no reason for me to say, 'We should not create a joke about the community'.You have to show the society the way it is, because that's the only way we would be able to achieve the change we hope  we do, but there is no digging. It is a very sensitive film".

With Sumi, the 32-year-old actor said she found an opportunity to play a vulnerable character, a departure from some of her "strong willed" roles in films like 'Saand Ki Aankh' and 'Durgamati'.

She also said that her character is of someone looking for love; she is "flawed, brave" and eventually finds the courage to be herself. Pednekar said the film is ultimately a celebration of love, accepting oneself and overcoming fears.

Backed by Junglee Pictures, 'Badhaai Do' is gearing to release on February 11.